Pakistani cricketers, Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were handed down sentences at the Southwark Crown Court in London today.
Salman Butt is to get 30 months of prison time as the judge holds him responsible for ‘corrupting Amir’ while Mohammad Asif has been handed a one-year sentence and Amir will be detained for six months at the Young Offenders Institution.
In your opinion, is this a fair verdict?
More importantly, will this discourage players from indulging in corrupt practices in cricket?
Dawn.com invites its readers to give their views and suggestions.
This is the minimum punishment for such a crime. Defaming the country should be considered at par with treason and they should be hanged for such an offence.
Even though what Pakistani players have done was wrong …. i fail to understand why they were sent to England to fight the case, they shouldve be punished in there own country.
Because the crime happened here in England that is why thay had to come here and face the charges in an English Court. It was still too lenient a punishment as they will not serve the full time. Can you say hand on heart that Pakistan would have punished them, I think their crimes would have been swept under the carpet. How dare they think they could cheat in the very heart of Cricket in the country where it evolved.
Indeed, a terrible day for Pakistani Cricketers and their fans. I agree that both players deserve this punishment and should be made an example for others; however, I beg to disagree that “corruption” only exists in Pakistani Cricket. I can assure you that Indian Cricket Mafia is perhaps the most lucrative money making machine ever existed. Shouldn’t justice prevail there? Shouldn’t this be brought to the lime light and expose other Indian or International players who are actively involved in this crime? I ask for “justice” that is across the board – not just for Pakistanis.
How exactly can you “assure”? Got any proof against Indian players?
Just because there is betting (illegal in India) does not make Indian players guilty. After all betting on cricket is legal in many countries or for that matter even in India in certain sports!!
This is not good. They should not be sentenced in jail even found guilty, Please remember the good ones they have done and ignore this mistake at least once, specially from the young guy – Amir. I request form all, please give them one more chance and pray for them.
Arif
karachi.
This is to all the sympathizers of the trio – Dont lose heart ! They can always become politicians like Mohd. Azharuddin. There must be many Moradabads in Pakistan where people vote only on the basis of religion.
I plead to the British judiciary to pardon Amir if he agrees to cut his hair.
I second that. The judge would have let him off if it was not for those irritating locks of hair on his face.
The verdict was expected though there were some different opinions about the punishment. I don’t agree with people demanding a more severe punishment. Getting a jail sentence in a foreign country and having seen their cricket careers end in this manner is enough for the crime they have committed. People do murders, do large scale corruption and get away with these crimes rather we elect them to be our leaders so there is no point in demanding extra punishment for players. Besides, British people know their law.
PCB have already dropped Wahab Riaz and obviously that is due to the potential evidence to be forwarded to ICC and PCB against few more players but why Akmal brothers and Imran Farhat, who were also named in the scandal are not suspended till further inquiry.
Who will investigate corruption and abuse of power at ICC level? We have seen corruption an institution like FIFA and it is going through worst ever crisis regarding it’s integrity so I would not be amazed if a whistle-blower cause upheaval in the rude kingdom of ICC which is under heavy influence of super rich boards and biased executives.
I hope and pray that someone carry out a sting operation for players form other countries as well so we can shut the mouth of those biased critics who keep targeting Pakistan.
for this discussion, there is clear reply from our “cricket stars” in these words:
“Chado ge, koi masla hai nahi” i.e. leave it as it is not a problem!!!!
i think the right decision has been done with these corrupt players.
Not only they tarnished our country reputation also they have oath on holy book pleaded not guilty initially.
Instead of creating a role models to youngsters, they left the whole nation despondent and gloomy.
Who bothers about Amir return , i hope this youngster junaid khan or some other talented crickter would cemente his place in the team in near future
There is clear evidence of the wrong doings of Pakistani cricketers from the very start. But as Imran Khan pointed out yesterday if the management had taken some stern action 10 years ago we would not have faced the music. But we have to and I am happy about the judgement. I wished that ring leader, Salman, should have been given atleast 5-7 years in prison.
what the effected families wanted to tell rest of the world is ” why our beloved are being penalized,corruption is no longer a crime in pakistan”.
In my opinion, this is right decision made by London Court of Law. In future no player will think about such sort of corruption in any game. This trio has tarnished the image of Pakistan badly… I think they should also be brought to justice before the Pakistani Courts… They were really our heroes… but now they are nothing for us… In future, they should not be given a chance in Pakistani Cricket Squad… Pakistan is full of talent…
I am an Indian but in this hour of crisis i feel deeply for the cricket fans of Pakistan and the families of these boys. Salman Butt deserves his sentence because he comes from a priveleged background and inspite of that got greedy and cheated millions of Pakistanis. But Mohammed Aamir should be given a chance to redeem himself by coming back to cricket like Tiger Woods was given a chance. He is a genuinely brilliant natural talent and i would love to see him play again. Let us not be too harsh on this kid who was led astray by the seniors and the lure of easy money. After all, is there anyone among us who has never committed a mistake in life?? Let us all pray that Aamir returns to serve Pakistan cricket for a long time as this gives cricket fans a chance to see a superbly gifted cricketer play.
I agree with you.
Good riddance …..
My thoughts are with the families of the players. Let us all morally support their families.
The players should serve the sentence, but let us all forgive them. Hopefully they will come clean, admit their faults, pave the path forward.
I am also saddened by the fact that, these three players have to carry the shame. Aren’t we all guilty for condoning the corruption around us? We shamelessly vote the same corrupt people to power. We all condone family members, friends who we meet on a day to day basis that are blatantly corrupt. Aren’t we all to be blamed for creating and tolerating a corrupt culture? The corruption in sport is a mirror to our own misdeeds.
The real culprits are never caught. In drug peddling the poor couriers are caught and punished, including heads being chopped off. In war the foot soldiers are killed while the generals play golf. In cricket, the most talented gems like Aamer get trapped while the big bookies are never even identified. Let’s not be unduly harsh on the three. They have suffered much in terms of mental agony alone, and their careers are virtually over. What we will all miss out is seeing some magic on the field.
Someone said some where that now its not a conspiracy theory that they spot fix. It was happening long before. Someone told me Wasim Akram was master of spot fixing. Cricketers other then Pakistanis are also involved. Unlucky people, with so much respect and legal money they go for that. Cheap.
There is a lesson for all of us too. Sportsmen and Showbiz should not be treated as heroes. Dont they charge money for their services.
I wish they could have been sentenced for life!!!
Amir is not a school boy. The boys of his age are defending their country on front in india and in pakistan as well. Look at Amir, look at his hair style, girl friends and ofcourse dressing sense, does he look a kid ? He deserves atleast 2 year in jail. I do not know why some people have sympathy for this criminal. His mother says that my son is innocent, Butt asked him to do no balls, it is totally wrong. Instead of criticising his sin, she is shedding crocodile tears.
This whole ugly saga has made 3 things clear. One: All other nations’ cricket teams are a pious group of angels. They never were or are involved in match fixing or illegal betting. Only the Pakistanis are the culprits.
Two: The ICC and its officials are absolutely innocent and they never benefit from the ill-gotten wealth of the world wide betting and fixing mafia. Three: The Pakistani media is the biggest enemy of its national team players since it reports, world for world, what the Pakistan-bashing Indian and Western media barks out day in and day out.
Laws are made by the rich people in every country. The common denominator in one of these laws is to fool poor people into believing that they can achieve anything through sheer hard work. That if they live by the law and work 40-60 hours a week for 40-50 years, they will gain riches and knighthood under their kings (the so called rich class). Then they will live happily ever after.
Unfortunately the rich man only wanted the poor man to live in a dreamworld. He plotted from generations to keep himself safe and superior. He made the common man believe that their life was insignificant and disdainful if they didn’t live by the law. Thus the poor man has lived bonded as a caged bird forever.
Salman, Asif, and Amir realized the truth. They decided not to live by any such law. They planned and fouled to become rich. Unfortunately their plan was not fool proof.
The three rebels got caught in the web of media and the secret came out into open. The common man felt cheated, and the rich man played the cards to set an example. The three crooks thus were put behind the bars.
Justice was served. The poor man happily went back to work. The rich man breathed a sign of relief.
The involvment of players in such a criminal act is extremly shameful for all of us as nation.in a way the positive outcome of this justified verdict would be to set an example for those future perpetuators to be.
The judge was not FAIR. The trio should have been fined maximum and given maximum sentences. Pakistan should try them for being traitors and pass the maximum sentences & confiscate their properties . A lesson for all to come.
Lesson to be learnt, greed doesnt pay, hardwork pays.
Now that the trial is over and guilty have all been punished, though some like Butt and Mazhar not adequately, how about the people who failed in their duties? The cricketing authorities in Pakistan? What actions are the Pakistani authrorities planning to take aganist those who had the responsibilities of ensuring that such things do not occur? Unless stern actions are taken against thesem officials and also, at the same time those other criketers, whose names have come up are thoroughly investigarted and punished, if found guilty, this episode will soon be forgotten and new initiatives to cheat will be initiated.
The current Pakistan cricket team has shown that it does not need any tainted player and these one’s can be written off for life. At the same time, PCB needs to be recostituted with competent people after the ones responsible for the current shame brought on are severely punished. Such measures will restore the faith of the cricket lovers allm o0ver the world including those like me, a non-Pakistani, in the ability of the Pakistan cricket team.